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Louisiana Judge's Common Core Ruling Serves as Judicial Activism

Providing an excellent example of baseless judicial activism is Judge Todd Hernandez from the 19th Judicial District Court in Louisiana. In a decision starved of legal grounding and reasoning, Judge Hernandez prohibited Gov. Bobby Jindal from halting the implementation of the Common Core educational standards with executive orders BJ 2014-6 and BJ 2014-7 and the Office of Contractual Review’s retraction of the contract with DRC (Data Recognition Corporation) to assist with the introduction of Common Core.

In his ruling, Hernandez details many reasons as to why such actions may inconvenience the state’s attempt for uniform education standards, but not once in his five page opinion does he invoke a legal or Constitutional objection to the enforcement of Louisiana’s efforts to stop Common Core.

As a basis for his decision, Hernandez relies on early developments of Common Core standards in Louisiana. He notes that Jindal supported Common Core implementation and worked with the Board of Education to improve and reform education by adopting Common Core and PARCC testing. Because Jindal changed his mind, he rules “irreparable harm” has been caused to those who have been prepping for Common Core and PARCC, and therefore, Jindal’s actions must be stopped.

Never mind the faltering support for Common Core, even among teachers unions. And never mind the truism that circumstances change over time, and people adjust their opinions with a more accurate understanding of reality. Apparently, Hernandez feels that once you decide something, you cannot go back on it even if doing so is legally permissible:

“While the judicial branch should rarely, if ever, enjoin the executive branch of government claiming to be acting within its statutory authority, the court does in fact have the authority and should exercise such authority to enjoin the executive branch when the evidence submitted to the court supports the finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the conduct sought to be enjoined causes irreparable harm”

Indeed, as the ruling indicates, Gov. Jindal’s executive order has caused “irreparable harm” to those who have invested time and money to prepare for Common Core initiatives. As a result, testing standards remain uncertain for this school year, leading to a “state of chaos” and the “possibility of teachers, schools and students suffering.”

“With each passing day,” Hernandez pens, “teachers and parents lose time preparing students for high stakes testing, and there is a lot riding on the student’s successful performance.” It is clear that Hernandez’ ruling primarily operates from policy preference for what Common Core brings to the table rather than any real legal objection.

Perhaps high stakes testing is where the problem lies. Instead of focusing students only on standardized tests, perhaps local teachers should be autonomous and encouraged to develop each student’s unique creativity, skill and thirst for knowledge rather than restricted inside the parameters of national benchmarks. We saw the failure of centrally sanctioned education reform with No Child Left Behind, and we are beginning to see it again with Common Core. Maybe Hernandez should consider the real and emerging perception that the threat of irreparable harm to public education is the Common Core standards themselves.

Gov. Jindal is certainly pondering those questions, which is what led to this case in the first place. “We’re very alarmed about choice and local control over curriculum being taken away from parents and educators,” said Jindal. “Common Core has not been fully implemented yet in Louisiana, and we need to start the process over. It was rushed in the beginning and done without public input.” He continued: “We can certainly have high standards without giving up control of Louisiana’s education system to the federal government. If other states want to allow the federal government to dictate to them, they have every right to make that choice. But education is a primary responsibility of states, and we will not cede this responsibility to the federal government.”

Hernandez himself even admits the Office of Contractual Review was not acting out of line by putting the contract with DRC under review: “While the Office of Contractual Review may have the statutory authority to review, approve and audit state contracts, the collective action of the defendants have caused considerable harm to the public education system in Louisiana.” In other words, while the OCR’s action is entirely legitimate, it reverses all the hard work that has been done to prepare for Common Core implementation, which is wrong and can’t happen because I say so. With this line of logic, the start of any government initiative means it should never be rescinded, no matter how detrimental that action may turn out to be.

While the fallibility of common core remains up for debate, Judge Hernandez took matters into his own hands with his ruling on this particular issue. His legislating from the bench on education reform is void of any legal foundation and shows judicial activism at its worst.

Separation of powers for me, but, NOT FOR THE....These judges Must be removed...Term limits must be implemented. Gov. Jindal should sign executive order having the judge removed..
Judaical Activism...NO, Communism

Common Core education standards have attracted criticism from across the political spectrum due to lack of choice and competition inherent in a top-down, federal mandate. Students succeed when parents and teachers have flexibility to tailor their education programs to individual children, celebrating rather than ignoring their differences.

The United States education system is home to many thousands of teachers. Some are good, some are less good, and some stand head and shoulders above the rest, setting an example in educational excellence that others can only hope to achieve.

When Common Core standards first passed in 2010, teachers unions were cautiously optimistic. After a glimpse of their implementation, however, that enthusiasm quickly began to sour. In 2014, the National Education Association, which once supported the standards, launched unambiguous criticism against the program, calling its rollout “completely botched.”

The massive unpopularity of Common Core education standards has served as a rallying cry for concerned parents and teachers to get involved in politics—sometimes for the first time in their lives. Nothing galvanizes grassroots activism like the realization that the government is failing our children. These efforts have been remarkably successful, with three states repealing Common Core outright last year, and many state-level bills already being introduced in the new Congress.

It’s a new year, and the state legislatures have come roaring back into session chock full of ideas to stop the Common Core education standards that are damaging school systems all across the country. Last year, we saw Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina withdraw from the standards, and 2015 looks to be off to a good start.

Last month, president Obama quietly put forward a new plan to establish a rating system for colleges and universities, designed and overseen by the U.S. Department of education, which would then be used to determine funding levels for these institutions. It’s the continuation of a worrying trend of more federal involvement in education that includes No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Common Core Education Standards, Head Start, and the president’s new scheme to make the first two years of community college free.

We all know that Congress has some big ticket items on its agenda for next year - repealing ObamaCare, balancing the budget, reining the president’s executive authority, but receiving less attention than perhaps they should are a number of smaller regulatory battles in which the new Republican majority could make a real difference.

As Ohio moves closer to repealing Common Core education standards, Wisconsin looks like it could be next in line. The State Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald, has said that tackling Common Core is definitely on the agenda for next year’s legislative session. Fitzgerald has yet to offer any specific proposals, but it’s safe to assume that the changes will be more in line with the school choice platform that Governor Scott Walker ran on to win reelection.

Ohio is on its way to becoming the latest state to ditch Common Core education standards. A bill that would block the state from implementing the standards, along with any aligned curriculum, was approved by the Rules and Reference Committee in the State House earlier this month and is ready to be brought to a vote.

Common Core education standards have been, by all accounts, a dismal failure. Parents, teachers, children, and even unions hate them. Governors like Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee went from supporting to standards to violently opposing them after observing their effects. Half a dozen states have withdrawn from Common Core, with many others currently pursuing legislation to do so. In short, it’s the usual standard of incompetence we’ve come to expect from the Department of Education (DOE).